be-stead
(bi-sted) Archaic.v. tr. be-stead-ed
or be-stead be-stead-ing, be-steads.
1. To be of service to; aid. 2. To be of use to; avail.adj. Having been placed; located.[Probably BE- + STEAD, to help., Adj., from Middle English bistad, placed : bi-, be- + -stad (, ultimately from Old Norse staddr, placed, past participle of stedhja, to stop, from stadhr, place. See sta-.).]
Excerpted from American Heritage Talking Dictiona
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For David said,
The Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto his people,
that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever:
And also unto the Levites;
they shall no more carry the tabernacle,
nor any vessels of it for the service thereof.
For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above:
Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord,
in the courts,
and in the chambers,
and in the purifying of all holy things,
and the work of the service of the house of God;
***
Time thoughts
In times past I addressed the subject of homosexuality only because, that subject is the most discussed behavioral activity in all the religions on the earth, in particular, the Christian faith that declares it to be an unpardonable ‘sin’.
An infraction against gods creation and nature, deserving persecution and even death without trial or reason save a person sexual drives.
All the other corruptions of the flesh are said to be forgivable and all the ‘sinner’ need do, is come before god in sincere contrition ask his forgiveness, accept that forgiveness by faith, because the lords not very chatty, and believe in your heart that you have received a full unconditional pardon.
Complete exoneration of all your ‘sin’s’ past infraction and even those you don’t remember, are all thrown into the firery lake of fire where they will be forgotten.
Everyone who ask, receives this forgiveness, except the homosexual, who will find no mercy at the throne of god or from Christians, who stipulates that god will not hear his request of eternal life unless he or she is somehow miraculously converted, which only be achieved through much prayer and fasting.
Thereafter he or she becomes heterosexual and then be held up by the ‘saints’ as an example of gods ability to heal the sick, ‘We bid you vaaalcom.’
Either that or a marriage to the appropriate sex will seal the deal and further demonstrate gods love for everyone.
Of cause for the homosexual the most preferred course of action is to say nothing, i.e. stay in the closet, never revealing your ‘condition’ or better yet, miraculously become heterosexual and be held up as an example of gods healing power to mend the sick.
Across the entire earth, the persecution and murder of these people is nothing less than inhuman cruelty in the guise of doing gods work.
This brutality perpetrated against a human being the homosexual who has become the godless whipping boy that brings the Christian into the same judgment as in time past, the inquisition the justification of slavery, the genocide of the American Indians and so forth.
***
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses,” the poor go hungry, homeless beg bread, the innocent imprisoned.
Nay
The hypocrites cast yet another log of injustice upon the funeral pyre they prepare and stoke for themselves, Ye who think yourselves as ‘holy vessels’ propagating false commandments to murder unjustly.
Even as Ye persecute those you say ‘fall short’ you yourselves teach perfection is unattainable.
***
Romans 3:23 K.J.V
for all have ‘sinned’ and fall short of the glory of God,
***
Hebrews 10:11King James Version (KJV)
And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
***
2 Corinthians
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though- God did beseech you by us:
we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
For he hath made ‘him’ to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
***
The afore verses are attributed to the writings and teachings of the Apostle Saul . . .
***
. . . who was a devout Hellenistic Jew, of the tribe of Benjamin, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, Saul was a member of the Pharisees and was taught by none other than Gamaliel, whom we have already met (Acts 5:34-40).
Saul did not agree with his teacher, Gamaliel, on how the Christians should be dealt with, however. Rather, he sought the arrest, trial, conviction, and punishment (with imprisonment the norm and death the ideal, it would seem) of those in Jerusalem.
His career as a persecutor of Christians seems to have begun with Stephen, but it quickly spread to all of the Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 7:58–8:3).
Saul was not content to punish some and to drive the rest from the “holy city.” He did not want to merely contain Christianity or to drive it from Jerusalem; he wanted to rid the earth of Christianity and its followers.
Thus, his opposition to Christ and His church took on a “missionary” spirit.
Saul went to other cities where he sought to arrest Christians and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. Damascus, a city some 150 miles to the northeast of Jerusalem, was one such city. Word was out that Saul would soon be arriving.*
*****
That Saul of the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe given absolutely no blessed authorization to teach the gospel, nor sat as the corner brick, and the Slime, the Christian church, rest and founded upon.
***
(7) Those who were saved by Saul’s ministry were convinced by the power of the gospel message he preached and not by miraculous signs and wonders.
Elsewhere in Acts, such as with the apostles, Stephen and Philip, the message of the gospel was underscored by signs and wonders which accompanied the message. Nothing is said in our text about any miracles being performed by Saul, as yet. We are simply told that the message itself was proclaimed powerfully and that people were amazed at the message and its miraculous impact on Saul’s own conduct.
(8) Saul was saved independently of the apostles. Ananias was used as God’s instrument in the conversion of Saul, but even he had to be pushed to go to Saul. There is not so much as a hint that anyone prayed for Saul’s salvation or took the initiative to bring it about. It was God’s initiative all the way.
The apostles had nothing to do with Saul’s conversion, and they were reluctant to believe it had happened or to welcome him into their fellowship. Paul would make much more of this point in the first chapter of Galatians.
(9) On the road to Damascus, Saul did far more than to see a bright light and to hear a voice from heaven. Saul saw and heard the resurrected Christ. When one looks at all the references to this event, it was, in fact, a personal appearance of the risen, glorified Jesus to Saul (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:4-11).
(10) Saul’s encounter with Christ was not only a conversion, but it was also a call to a very specific ministry. Saul was told at the time of his conversion that God had chosen him to bear witness to the Gentiles, to kings, and to the Jews (9:15).
(11) Saul’s conversion was a watershed event which greatly affected the history of the church. From the fact that three different accounts of Saul’s conversion are recorded in Acts, we know this event had to play a crucial role in the expansion of the church.
(12) The same Saul who played a role in Stephen’s execution was to become, in large measure, his replacement. Saul, like Stephen, was a Hellenistic Jew. Saul, like Stephen, spoke with such power and authority that his opponents could not refute him. Saul, like Stephen, had a ministry which focused on the Hellenistic Jews. Like Stephen, the enemies of the gospel attempted to kill Saul when they could not silence him by means of debate.
Saul did not agree with his teacher, Gamaliel, on how the Christians should be dealt with,
however. Rather, he sought the arrest, trial, conviction, and punishment (with imprisonment the norm and death the ideal,
it would seem) of those in Jerusalem.
His career as a persecutor of Christians seems to have begun with Stephen, but it quickly spread to all of the Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 7:58–8:3).
*
The distinction here is the people of Jerusalem were all ‘People of Color,’ The same color I presume as that of the back of my hand.
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Saul was said to have undergone a conversion during which he was transformed into a follower of the Christ and to his teaching. But, he took no thought of the first commandment of the Christ Immanuel, when his disciples were expressly commanded by the Immanuel the Christ.
***
These twelve Immanuel - sent forth,
and commanded them,
saying,
Go not into the way of the Gentiles,
and into any city of the Samaritans - enter ye not:
But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And as ye go,
preach,
saying,
The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Heal the sick,
cleanse the lepers,
raise the dead,
cast out devils:
freely ye have received,
freely give.
***
and God - divided - the light from the darkness.
***
And he - divided - himself against them,
he - and his servants,
*
and the darkness - he called - Night.
*
by night,
and smote them,
and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the - left hand of Damascus.
*
And the name of the third river is Hiddekel:
that is it - which goeth -toward - the east - of Assyria.
*
And Joseph - took them both, Ephraim in his - right hand - toward Israel's - left hand,
and Manasseh in – his - left hand toward Israel's - right hand,
**
in the image of God created he him;
**
and brought them near unto him.
*
And Israel stretched out - his - right hand,
and laid it upon Ephraim's head,
who was the younger,
and his left hand upon Manasseh's head,
guiding - his hands - wittingly;
for Manasseh was the firstborn.
**
Behold,
I go forward,
but he is not there;
**
and went backward,
and covered the nakedness of their father;
***
and backward,
but I cannot perceive - him:
On the left hand,
where he doth work,
but I cannot behold him:
***
Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people,
and he hath stretched forth his hand against them,
and hath smitten them:
and the hills did tremble,
and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets.
For all this his anger is not turned away,
but his hand is stretched out still.
**
And Israel stretched out his right hand,
and laid it upon Ephraim's head,
who was the younger,
***
he hideth himself on the right hand,
that I cannot see him:
**
guiding - his hands - wittingly;
**
But he knoweth the way that I take:
**
when he hath tried me,
I shall come forth as gold.
********
What a shock Saul’s conversion must have been to both groups!
To the church,
Saul turned out to be a friend,
a fellow-believer,
in fact,
a flaming evangelist,
who proclaimed Christ more clearly and powerfully than anyone had previously done in Damascus. The church did not shrink or suffer for Saul’s arrival,
but it grew because of it.
And the second group, who were waiting for Saul to come and help them deal with the followers of “the Way,” were about to discover that Saul had joined them, perhaps bringing other members of the opposition along with him.
Did they think their task would be a simple one? They found that their cause was literally shut down by Saul’s arrival, and the wind was taken out of their sails by his conversion. What can you say about Christianity when its most outspoken and zealous opponent suddenly claims to have seen the risen Christ, and to have trusted in Him as the Messiah?.*
***
And said unto them,
It is written,
My house shall be called the house of prayer;
but ye have made it a den of thieves.
***
Even them will I bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer:
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar;
for mine house shall be called an house of prayer - for all people.
***
In that day shall he swear, saying,
I will not be an healer;
for in my house is neither bread nor clothing:
make me - not a ruler of the people.
For Jerusalem is ruined,
and Judah is fallen:
because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord,
to provoke the eyes of his glory.
***
And now a word from
Me.
All men without exception are despicable, degusting, lying, unreliable, thieving, hypocritical murderers. . .
***
Bind up the testimony,
seal the law among my disciples.
And I will wait upon the Lord,
that hideth his face from the house of Jacob,
and I will look for him.
Behold,
I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts,
which dwelleth in mount Zion.
And when they shall say unto you,
Seek unto them that have familiar spirits,
***
Let him take his rod away from me,
and let not his fear terrify me:
Then would I speak,
and not fear him;
but it is not so with me.
***
and unto wizards that peep,
and that mutter:
should not a people seek unto their God?
for the living to the dead?
To the law and to the testimony:
if they speak not according to this word,
it is because there is no light in them.
And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead* and hungry:
and it shall come to pass,
that when they shall be hungry,
they shall fret themselves,
and curse their king - and their God,
and look upward.
And they shall look unto the earth;
and behold trouble - and darkness,
dimness of anguish;
and they shall be driven to darkness.
ISamuelYeaMe
